Avi Ohana and Moshik of Atlas Residential went from New York day jobs to building a Charlotte, North Carolina real estate business. Along the way, Avi went from going broke twice to running sales and acquisitions, while Moshik, a Special Forces veteran, spent 20 years in development, including a 400,000 square foot Amazon warehouse in Brooklyn. Today their fix and flip operation runs alongside three land development projects totaling about 225 units around Charlotte.

Avi and Moshik share how they invested out of state while working full time, survived a money-losing first deal, and turned unused leads into land entitlement and development opportunities. This episode is for any real estate investor who wants to scale through partnerships, team building, and new ways to monetize the leads they already have.

Timeline Summary

[1:30] – Leon Barnes welcomes Avi Ohana and Moshik, CG members who live in South Florida but invest in Charlotte, NC

[3:44] – How two New York professionals met at an Israeli networking event and teamed up on Charlotte real estate

[5:30] – Their first deal, a single family portfolio, lost money but proved the partnership could handle failure

[7:35] – Avi on going broke twice, Rich Dad Poor Dad, and buying a $170K Charlotte rental from New York

[10:29] – Moshik on why New York doesn’t cash flow and the remote team you need to invest out of state

[12:04] – Why a trusted, patient realtor gave Avi the confidence to buy his first out-of-state rental

[14:46] – Choosing a business partner by shared values, life story, and complementary sales and ops skills

[17:29] – Total trust, waterfront walks, and fully committing to decisions even when partners disagree

[19:22] – First deal lessons: missed inspections, miscalculations, and writing down exactly what went wrong

[21:59] – Landing deals from New York with one VA, a realtor, and a contractor while working full time

[24:18] – A bad paid mentorship, a good one, and how a mentor’s mention led them to Collective Genius

[26:11] – Why asking 3 questions on every call helped Avi climb fast inside a real estate mastermind

[29:12] – How in-house seller outreach and a CG presentation sparked their move into land development

[32:13] – Lead monetization: making sure no lead is left behind, including land sitting in your pipeline

[33:50] – Today’s business: three land development projects in Kannapolis, Newton, and Shelby, about 225 units

[37:33] – What excites them heading into 2027: the team they built and development deals finally moving

5 Key Takeaways

1. Let Your First Deal Test You — Avi and Moshik lost money on their first portfolio deal, but they didn’t blame each other. How partners handle a failure tells you more than any success will.
2. Out-of-State Investing Runs on Trust — You don’t need to live in your market. You need a trusted realtor, contractor, inspector, attorney, and accountant on the ground, and everything else can happen over Zoom.
3. Partner for Different Skill Sets — A strong real estate partnership pairs a sales and acquisitions person with an operator. Two people with the same strengths leave the same gaps.
4. Monetize Every Lead You Pay For — The land deals in their seller outreach pipeline became an entire development business. Know what else your leads could become before you toss them.
5. Scale People Before Scaling Deals — Their fix and flip team runs well enough that the founders can focus on land development. You can’t scale a real estate business without investing in your team.

Links & Resources

• Collective Genius: https://explorecg.com
• Atlas Residential: https://atlasresidentialco.com
• Connect with Avi Ohana on LinkedIn
• Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

Enjoyed This Episode?

Avi and Moshik went from a first deal that lost money to roughly 225 units in development in about five years, and they did it from out of state. If you know an investor who’s stuck in a market that doesn’t cash flow or sitting on leads they don’t know what to do with, send them this episode. Follow the Collective Genius podcast, then rate and review the show so more real estate investors can find it.